Why pay for value added information?

...because it is more efficient and cheaper in the long run. What constitutes added value: expert coding, or systematic indexing? What about timeliness, pricing and customer service? Are these value added? In my opinion: yes. Anything that makes it easier, faster and better value for money to find and deliver a relevant document, adds value. The department of Scientific and Technical Information at the Henkel InfoCentre is dedicated to performing professional searches. We aim to deliver the best that money can buy. The results of these searches form the basis of far-reaching financial and strategic decisions. Ever since the advent of the internet, there seems to be a misconception that suddenly all information is free. The internet has indeed increased access to information beyond what could be dreamed of twenty years ago. However, those of us working in the information industry, who spend many hours of every working day looking for useful and pertinent information, know that "there's no such thing as a free lunch".